Bridgette Bradshaw-Fleer, manager of the state Department of Labor office in Sandpoint, says many people will have to uproot.

“In some cases, not just one family member is involved, but two family members are working at Coldwater Creek," says Bradshaw-Fleer. "So that's a bigger decision -- if they want to be mobile right a way or wait until their kids are out of school. It's a difficult decision for all of them.”

Bradshaw-Fleer says it will also be a hit to Sandpoint, a town of about 7,400, to lose one of the top employers.

Retail staff elsewhere in the Northwest will lose their jobs when shops close up. That includes Coldwater Creek stores in Kennewick and Tacoma, Wash., Portland, Eugene and Medford, Ore., and Boise.